Setting up 5468796 over 11 years ago, we decided that until we could articulate what our work might be about, it would be better to remain silent. It was more important for us to simply get to work.
Over the first decade, our work has focused on the ?missing middle? of multi-family housing in its many forms and ownership models, from refugee and social housing to market rate condominiums. We didn?t actively pursue this type of work, but rather, it was a result of our choice to stay in Winnipeg at a time when many of our colleagues left for greener architectural pastures. Our location in a ?parochial second city? provided a quick feedback loop?from design to construction to response to critique?a context to visibly stand out or fail in. Serendipity and connections certainly played a role. Like most architects starting out, we have been shaped by the type of work we have been given, before we could shape it. Named after its street address on 62 MacDonald Avenue, 62M is a housing development that makes use of a residual urban site beside a freeway. Elevating the building on 35-foot-high stilts allows it to capture views beyond the immediate setting. The building contains 40 pie-shaped units, as well as a luxurious glass-box penthouse perched atop its elevator core
From this perspective, it is easy to be skeptical about the narrow definition or field in which capital ?A? architecture operates in Canada today. Houses for the 1% and the luxury towers shaping the ever-expanding sk...